Samsung Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 Update Problems Emerge

Earlier this month, the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update started rolling out, bringing Galaxy Gear support and other features to users of the aging smartphone. However, as the Galaxy S3 roll out continues, we are starting to get a glimpse at the other side of the update as Galaxy S3 users are reporting several Android 4.3 update problems including battery life drain.

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Last month, Samsung finally confirmed the expected, announcing a Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update roll out. The update, which had been expected for quite some time, started rolling out several days ago, bringing a number of enhancements to Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 update users including support for the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, Samsung KNOX for added security, some of the software features from the Galaxy S4, and of course, features from Android 4.3 Jelly Bean itself.

The Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 update continues to roll out though it still hasn’t hit the United States. The Sprint Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 update was slated for November 6th, only to miss that date for unexplained reasons. The software emerged on Sprint’s website yesterday with a new build, a sign that Sprint isn’t quite done with the testing process. And while anticipation is high, Sprint Galaxy S3 owners might want to consider themselves lucky at this point.

For several days now, we’ve been monitoring the Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 Jelly Bean roll out. And while there are certainly some users who are enjoying the new features, there are plenty of others that are complaining about a multitude of issues that have emerged with the new software.

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Forums are rife with complaints from Galaxy S3 users on Android 4.3, many of them on Vodafone Ireland, the first carrier to release the Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 Jelly Bean software. Users who have installed the software are, unsurprisingly, dealing with some perceived issues including battery drain, a sluggish user interface including taps on the home button and opening apps, and more.

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The most prevalent issue that Galaxy S3 users have with the update is the perceived impact that it has on the device’s battery life. There are users complaining about massive battery drain issues, issues that have caused many to lash out. Battery life issues are common after major updates so to see complaints isn’t surprising.

Often, software updates will stabilize over time so it’s possible that the battery life problems and sluggish UI issues that are dominating these forums will dissipate in the near future.

Issues or not, the Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 roll out continues and it is expected to hit the United States in the near future. Rumors suggest that the software will touch down for major carriers this month and the nation’s fifth, U.S. Cellular, says that it will be rolling it out in the coming weeks. Users in the United States should remain hopeful that extensive testing will mitigate these issues but simply put, software updates are never one hundred percent perfect and it looks like the Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 update might be far from it at this point.

56 Responses

There is another issue which you didn’t mention about. Previous files which I opened in the past as attachments from my email address keep constantly appearing in the notification bar. How can I stop this? Cause it’s very frustrating.

Sorry, I wrote here without knowing my nephew has signed into his Facebook account on my mobile. As I wrote before, there is another issue which you didn’t mention about. Previous files which I opened in the past as attachments from my email address keep constantly appearing in the notification bar. How can I stop this? Cause it’s very frustrating.

Yup having these issues. I’m on S3 on o2UK only had update a day so not played around much however I’ve noticed my home button is sluggish, really sluggish. My standby power does seem to be lower than usual but like I say I’ve not had it long enough to test.

S3 on on ireland vodafone. Major issues with slow phone, email sync with outlook, battery drain. All in all a pretty rubbish up grade and it smacks of negligence. Do there engineers not test software updates? Or is this a rouse to get s3 customers to upgrade their phones?

That seriously bad. I get the music cutting out and screen unresponsive when press the home button. Battery drain do, It looks like maybe doing the same. Charging phone 2 or 3 times a day till Samsung fix problem

Same problems here, in Slovenia, regular Galaxy S3 32 gb – besides the above mentioned, also my screen doesn’t always turn on while I am receiving a call – I have to press the home button several times, to see who’s calling.

I installed the new update for the S3 and I’ve noticed that, when yo press the home button or the power button tobring up the screen, nothing happens and when something does happen, home screen pops up for for a fraction of a second. It takes a few goes for home screen to appear. Also, if listening to music through blutooth headset, there’s break up in sound. Needs to be sorted

These are not perceived issues. these are *actual* issues. I’m experiencing them myself. Full charge of phone yesterday evening at 6pm, by 1pm today battery is down to 11%. this is with NO activity or use, apart from one phone call which lasted 2 minutes.

Also, pressing the home button to wake the device, it takes on average 4-5 seconds before the device actually wakes.

The problems are very serious.. never expected this from Samsung.. I was always a samsung fan but what I’m experiencing now is more than frustrating.. especially the power button problem.. not to mention that when I hung up with someone I cannot actually end the call from my end because the screen goes off and the power button doesn’t work.. !!!!!!

yup… i find these as worst issues too… pushing the power button without any reaction from the phone and the fact that i can’t end the call because of the screen that goes off.
i hope they will fix these issues with a proper update asap

This upgrade is absolutely brutal rendering my phone useless for using as a work phone. Sluggish is an understatement. Samsung short term goal to roll out the update regardless to support gear for Christmas will result in many current customers switching to iphone in the January sales.

Awful upgrade. I too find the home button sluggish and power button slow, also having issues with my messaging cannot receive messages or access them, I keep getting the message”unfortunately, messaging has stopped”. Problems with calls also. Not very happy as usually find samsung excellent.

I just found out that the multi-window function does not work at all. It is enabled but yet there is no reaction. I hope that samsung will release a bug fix updage to solve all of the problems. Also i have the same problems with music, hime screen unlock and receiving calls.

Initially l was pleased with the update but as the day wore on l found lag, sluggishness, crashed twice had to remove battery, email taking long to load, battery drain, switched itself off twice… split screen not on at all. WiFi also saying unstable regularly…

Oh man…. based on this update… i will never buy samsung again. They claim no responsibility.. offer no solutions or rollback options..
despite being a loyal samsung user forseveral years now..
ill be spending my hard earned cash on a more reliable iphone shortly.
At least theyve tested and covered everything.
this update caused irreprable damage to my business.
Im ever so sorry i wasted my money on samsung.

Hilarious! Do we need to be wearing anything in particular whilst we do this? Perhaps the phone should be held upside down whilst the factory reset is applied!

Well, even though battery life is now less than 7 hours (with almost everything turned off) and my music continues to skip, I’ve noticed strange things happening on the screen (looks like the samsung boot time “swirl”) when the device is sleeping, often takes a couple of presses of the power/home buttons to wake, sluggish performance (trim support supposed to make data access quicker?), etc. at least my default keyboard doesn’t revert back to the samsung one every time the device is rebooted… so some progress… not amused…

Like you, I have to press home/power button several times before the home screen appears. Music cuts in and out. Battery charge through the night and by about miday, I’m down to around 50% and that’s when I’ve not even used the phone. I’m not too hopeful of this Factory Reset to behonest. But, I will have to wait and see. That’s good…your keyboard. I too am not amused. Wished I had never updated the phone like everyone else…

I have the same issues with S3. Power button problem…it is jammed all the time, sometimes phone wakes up in 3 seconds, usually it needs average arroun 15-20 seconds just to get home screen on. In some casesndoesnt even wake up and i have to reset phone. Beside that power consumption went up at least 30 %.

Did the update last night. Now when I receive a call or my alarm clock goes off the light for the camera comes on and keeps time with the rhythm of the ring and the clock alarm. Does anyone know how to get this to stop? Also, on a missed call the indicator for the miss call on the home page will not go away after reviewing the missed call. How is the number removed?

I am having the same issue. Any time I receive a notification, the camera light flashes as well. This is supposed to be something you turn on in settings and mine is off, but it still does it. It’s very annoying!

I’m reading nothing but NEGATIVE feedback and experiences with this new upgrade…
My SS3 upgraded its system to the above noted; and have been experiencing the same troubles since… Though thankfully not to the full extent as what others are experiencing… yet..

There is still a notification waiting for me to update: “Security Policy Updates” I have NOT updated that yet because I wasn’t sure what it was exactly and if I could trust it. When I try to dismiss it however, it will not allow me to.

If I accept this update, will this potentially make my phone act up even more?
Is there a way to dismiss it from my menu so that I don’t have to update it?

Thank you in advance to anyone who is able to take the time and help me out on this one.

This last update I just got is horrible!! First I was getting kicked off websites, then freezing, games don’t play right and have to keep restarting, then it erased all my photos and video, and now it is dead…completely will not do anything. This is ridiculous!!

Updated to 4.3 on my S3 a few days ago through Verizon. Seems that I have a keyboard accuracy issue when holding the phone in a vertical position – almost have to go into the row below to pick the right letter. Can’t backspace…keyboard thinks I’m pressing the letter “L”

I’m having problems with email client downloading old emails from 2 – 3 weeks ago. Pain in the neck. I delete read emails if I don’t need them, now the damned phone re-downloads them for me and tells me I have a random number of new emails. Not true, I have a random number of old emails I don’t want on the phone

My problem is that with the update some of the settings don’t seem to be calibrated. For example, My screen is really bright on the lowest setting. Turn it all the way up it is really really bright. To compare to music it is like the screen brightness went two octaves higher. The lowest setting is still very bright. During a phone call also on speaker I couldn’t turn the volume down all the way. Last issue i ran into is my browser having issues now when it never had before. Java issues or something like that. Having to use chrome now. Yes bad battery issues, well horrible issues, and just won’t charge up takes so long.

I updated last week and was totally irritated when my phone kept updating the address book every minute, so had to turn automatic syncing off. AND it deleted some contact information while duplicating others. The one thing I can’t seem to get rid of and can’t find anywhere to change is that the camera light flashes when I get a notification and it flashes constantly when a phone call comes in. It’s so bright and I don’t NEED that. it’s in the settings as something to turn on for the hard of hearing. Mine is turned off, but it’s still doing it!

And, ta da: the website. Doing this every time for every link has gotten VERY old. Of course, there is no Task manager under Applications and I did clear all of the defaults – with no result.

I agree w/ the battery issues along w/ charging issues. I have had my phone charging from 75% for more than 1 hr. and its up to 87% now. I found that multiple gmail accounts disappeared. I can wait for the Kies disaster. Apparently, it was worming up in that I have not been able to sync Outlook calendar & contacts in past 7-10 days. This is a critical problem as this is required. I would love to read about magic fixes for these and likely other not yet found problems.

I downloaded 4.3 yesterday & my music player has stopped working amongst other format changes that I hadn’t requested but have been enforced. If I wanted half of these things I would have bought an iPhone…..perish the thought….. Sort this out now please Samsung